The invention relates to the field of analyzers of the breath of patients to detect the gastric by-products of various diseases and infections.
Since the early 1950""s, it has been known that the presence of bacterial organisms in the gastro-intestinal tract is accompanied by a high concentration of urease, which hydrolyses urea to form carbon dioxide and ammonia. These gases are detected in the subject""s blood stream and ultimately, in the subject""s breath, if he had been administered isotopically labeled urea. Such early results appear in reviews published by R. W. VonKorff et al. in Am. J. Physiol., Vol. 165, pp. 688-694, 1951, and by H. L. Kornberg and R. E. Davies in Physiol. Rev., Vol. 35, pp. 169-177, 1955.
Since these early experiments, it has been found that there exist, in addition to the bacterial infections initially studied, a significant number of medical conditions associated with disorders of the gastro-intestinal tract or metabolic or organ malfunctions, which are capable of detection by means of such simple breath tests. These breath tests are based on the ingestion of an isotopically labeled sample, which is cleaved by the specific bacteria or enzymic action being sought, or as a result of the metabolic function being tested, to produce labeled gaseous by-products. These by-products are absorbed in the blood stream, and are exhaled in the patient""s breath, where they are detected by means of external instrumentation.
Though the early experiments were performed using the radioactive carbon-14 atom, the most commonly used atom in such test procedures today is the carbon-13 atom, which is a stable, non-radioactive isotope, present in a proportion of about 1.1% of naturally occurring carbon. The labeled substance contains the functional compound to be used in the test, with almost all of its 12C atoms replaced by 13C atoms. Enrichments of up to 99% of 13C are typically used. This compound is cleaved enzymatically under the specific conditions being tested for, either during gastric absorption, or during gastro-intestinal transit, or during its metabolisation in other organs of the body. The cleavage product produced is 13CO2, which is absorbed in the bloodstream and exhaled in the patient""s breath together with the CO2 naturally present. The breath sample is then analyzed, usually in a mass spectrometer or a non-dispersive infra-red spectrometer. The increased presence of 13CO2 is determined, as compared with the expected 1.1% of total CO2 in a healthy patient""s breath, resulting from the metabolism of carbon compounds with the naturally occurring level of approximately 1.1% of carbon-13.
Though carbon-13 is the most commonly used isotopic replacement atom in such breath tests, other atoms which have been used include nitrogen-15 and oxygen-18. In addition, carbon-14 is still used in some procedures, but being radioactive, there are severe disadvantages both to its ingestion by the patient, and because of the storage, handling and disposal precantions required at the test site.
There are an increasing number of metabolic disorders, bacterial infections and organ malfunctions which can be diagnosed using such labeled substances for enabling breath tests. New applications are being proposed continuously, but among the more common currently in use are:
(a) The detection of Helicobacter Pylori infections in the gastric and duodenal tracts, by means of the ingestion of 13C-labeled urea and breath detection of an increased level of 13CO2. It is also feasible to use 15N-labeled urea, and to detect nitrogen-15 ammonia 15NH3 in the breath, but this test format is not currently in use. Gastric and duodenal ulcers, non-ulcer dyspepsia and gastritis have been shown to be related to the presence of Helicobacter Pylori infections.
(b) The detection of fat malabsorption, such as is present in steatorrhea and Crohn""s disease, by means of the ingestion of 13C-labeled triolein or tripalmitin, and breath detection of an increased level of 13CO2.
(c) Liver function evaluation (by monitoring the P450 enzyme activity), liver disease severity and detoxification activity by means of the ingestion of 13C-labeled aminopyrin, methacitin or caffeine citrate (depending on the specific function being tested) and breath detection of an increased level of 13CO2.
(d) The measurement of hepatic mitochondrial activity by means of the ingestion of 13C-labeled octanoic acid, and breath detection of an increased level of 13CO2.
(e) A check of hepatic mitochondrial function efficiency by means of the ingestion of 13C-labeled ketoisocaproic acid, and breath detection of an increased level of 13CO2.
(f) The quantification of functional liver mass by means of the ingestion of 13C-labeled galactose, and breath detection of an increased level of 13CO2.
(g) The testing of gastric emptying function by means of the ingestion of 13C-labeled octanoic acid for the emptying rate of solids, or 13C-labeled sodium acetate for the emptying rate of liquids, and breath detection of an increased level of 13CO2.
(h) The determination of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency by means of the ingestion of a 13C-labeled mixed triglyceride sample such as octanoil-1,3-distearin for checking the lipase function, or a 13C-labeled sample of corn starch for checking the amylase function, and breath detection of an increased level of 13CO2. The mixed triglyceride test is one of the tests used for detecting cystic fibrosis. For the evaluation of the digestion and absorption of medium-chain fatty acid triglycerides, 13C-labeled trioctanoin is used in preference to the mixed triglyceride.
(i) The detection of bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine by means of the ingestion of 13C-labeled glycolic acid or xylose, and breath detection of an increased level of 13CO2.
(j) The testing of lactose or glucose intolerance, by means of the ingestion of 13C-labeled lactose or glucose, and measurement of the speed of appearance of an increased level of 13CO2 in the breath.
Previously available tests for these illnesses generally involve drastically more invasive procedures, and are therefore much less patient compliant than the simple breath tests described above. Such procedures include gastro-endoscopy, with or without the removal of a tissue biopsy, biopsies of organs suspected of malfunction, blood tests to detect antibodies to suspected bacteria, blood biochemistry tests following ingestion of suitable compounds, and radiological tests, whether by gamma imaging of the organ function following ingestion or injection of a suitable gamma emitter, or by direct X-ray imaging or CT scanning. Furthermore, there are other disadvantages to the previously used tests, such as the fact that they rarely give real time information about the organ function or status being observed. In some cases, such as in the case of blood tests for antibodies of bacterial infections, they give historic results which may have no therapeutic relevance currently, since antibodies to a particular bacterium can remain in the body for up to 2 years from the date that the infection has been eradicated.
The above mentioned breath tests are completely non-invasive, and are executed in comparative real time, so that they have a great advantage over previously available tests, and their use is gaining popularity in the medical community, as evidenced by the fact that suitable isotopically labeled substances are currently available commercially from a number of sources.
However, in spite of the advantages of isotopically labeled breath tests, current instrumentation and procedures for performing it still have a number of serious drawbacks, which continue to limit its usefulness. The major disadvantage, which becomes apparent when a review of prior art breath test performance techniques and instrumentation is performed, is that none of the currently used techniques are sufficiently rapid to permit immediate measurement of the requested parameter, allowing a diagnosis for the patient in a single short visit to the physicians office.
One of the early breath tests to be proposed is that for detecting the presence of the Helicobacter Pylori bacterium in the upper gastro-intestinal tract, by means of the oral administration of isotopically labeled urea, and the detection of the presence of isotopically labeled carbon dioxide or ammonia in the patient""s breath resulting from the hydrolysis of the urea by the urease which always accompanies H. Pylori infections. This method is described by Marshall in U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,010. In this implementation of the test, the breath of the subject is collected, preferably from 10 to 120 minutes after administration of the substance, in a balloon inflated by the subject, and from there is transferred to a storage and transport container, such as a Vacutainer(copyright) sold by Becton-Dickenson Inc.
According to a method proposed by Marshall, the sample is then analysed by mass spectrometry or by infra-red or nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, for the presence of isotopically labelled CO2 resulting from the hydrolysis of the urea. If the radioactive carbon-14 is used to label the urea, then the breath sample is analysed by bubbling it through a scintillation solution, which is transferred to a scintillation counter to determine the presence of beta radiation in the exhaled breath specimen. Because of the cost and complexity of the analysis instrumentation, in none of the preferred methods described by Marshall is it suggested that the analysis of the breath may be performed on site at the point where the sample is taken from the patient. The subject must thus wait at least ten minutes to give the sample, and must then wait for the laboratory to return the results. Clearly this method cannot be used to provide the results of the test within the context of a single visit to the office of the physician.
In a recent article entitled xe2x80x9cMinimum Analysis Requirements for the Detection of Helicobacter pylori Infection by the 13C-Urea Breath Testxe2x80x9d by P. D. Klieg and D. Y. Graham, published in Am. J. Gastroenterol., Vol. 88, pp. 1865-1869, 1993, a statistical study of the reliability and minimum criteria for conducting this test is presented. The breath analyses were again performed by gas isotope ratio mass spectrometry at a remote site. Amongst their findings are that breath sampling at 30 minutes after urea ingestion is likely to lead to significantly less false-positive and false-negative results, than sampling after 20 minutes, and that sampling after 30 minutes is therefore their proposed protocol time. They also conclude that xe2x80x9cIn the current environments of clinical research and patient care, the costs and turnaround times of CO2 isotopic abundance measurements continue as the major barriers to commercial propagation of the 13C-urea breath test.xe2x80x9d
In another described prior art method of executing the urea breath test, Koletzko and co-workers describe the analysis of the exhaled breath by means of an isotope-selective non-dispersive infrared spectrometer [Koletzko et al., Lancet, 345:961-2, 1995]. Even using such a sophisticated instrument, the subjects are still required to wait 15 to 30 minutes for successive breath samples to be taken. Such a long delay to obtain breath samples, as well as the long wait between samples, is inconvenient and potentially reduces patient compliance.
Furthermore, as in the previously mentioned prior art, the sample or samples are collected from the patient and then sent to a laboratory for analysis, causing a delay in the determination of the results and forcing the subject to return to the office of the physician to obtain the results. If the test does not yield meaningful results, the entire process must be repeated again. The requirement for multiple office visits potentially further reduces patient compliance. The potential reduction in patient compliance can have serious consequences, since Helicobacter pylori is implicated by the World Health Organisation as a possible cause of stomach cancer, in addition to its role in gastric and duodenal ulcers.
The most rapid breath test currently proposed, the xe2x80x9cPytestxe2x80x9d from Tri-Med Specialties, Charlottesville, N.C., USA, takes about 10-15 minutes to perform but uses radioactive carbon-14 isotopically-labeled urea [D. A. Peura, et al., Am. J. Gastro., 91:233-238, 1996]. The presence of 14CO2 in the subject""s exhaled breath is detected by direct beta counting. This test thus has all the disadvantages of the use of radioactive materials. Not only is the ingestion of radioactive materials potentially hazardous, but it also restricts the test to large testing centers which can handle such materials. Thus, the test cannot be performed in the office of the average physician, so that multiple office visits are again required.
Another recent prior art method which discusses implementations of the 13C-urea breath test, is shown in PCT Application No. WO97/14029, entitled xe2x80x9cMethod for Spectrometrically Measuring Isotopic Gas and Apparatus thereofxe2x80x9d, applied for by the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company of Tokyo, Japan. In this application too, the exhaled breath sample is transferred in sample bags from the patient to the spectrometer, which, because of its cost, complexity and size, has perforce to be installed in a central sample collection laboratory, and not in the doctor""s office or near the patient""s bed. The inventors in fact state that xe2x80x9cThe measurement of such breath samples is typically performed in a professional manner in a measurement organisation, which manipulates a large amount of samples in a short time.xe2x80x9d This prior art proposes the use of one breath sample before the administration of the urea, and another after a lapse of 10 to 15 minutes.
Other prior art which describe sensitive analyzer systems for measuring the isotopic ratios of 13CO2 to 12CO2 in a gaseous sample, such as is required in an exhaled breath analyzer for performing the above mentioned breath tests, includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,469, granted to W. Fabinski and G. Bernhardt, which describes a double reference path non-dispersive infra-red gas analyzer. A further development of such an instrument described in European Patent Application No. EP 0 584 897 A1 can be used to compare the two isotopic CO2 concentrations in the exhaled breath by means of infra-red absorption measurements on two IR-cells filled with gas from the same breath sample.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,805 and RE 33493, granted to P. S. Lee, R. F. Majkowski and D. L. Partin, an infra-red absorbtion spectrometer is described for discriminating between the two isotopic CO2 molecules for the breath tests. Their spectrometer design uses lead salt laser diodes as the source of radiation. Such laser diodes have emission lines in the 4 xcexcm to 5 xcexcm wavelength region of the infra-red spectrum, where the strongest CO2 absorption lines are located. As a consequence, despite the lack of temperature stability of such laser diodes, and the fact that they must be operated at liquid nitrogen temperatures, their use enables the spectrometer to achieve the high selectivity and sensitivity required for breath test analysis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,156, granted to D. E. Cooper, C. B. Carlisle and H. Riris, describes an FMS (Frequency Modulation Spectroscopy) laser absorption spectrometer for distinguishing between the weak 12CO2 and 13CO2 absorption lines in the 1.6 xcexcm infra-red region, where highly stable laser diodes are available. Even though the CO2 lines are very weak in this region, the stability of the GaAs laser diodes used as the source in this range, and the sophisticated TTFMS (two-tone Frequency Modulation Spectroscopy) technique used enables the inventors to provide sufficient differentiation between the two isotopes of CO2 that the spectrometer can be used in breath test analysis.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,236, granted to D. E. Murnick, an apparatus for isotopic analysis of CO2 is described by means of laser excited spectroscopy, utilising the optogalvanic effect to differentiate between the light of different wavelengths.
Because of the need to provide high sensitivity and good mass discrimination, all of the above described analysis systems are complex in nature. They are therefore, costly to manufacture and generally of large dimensions, making them suitable for commercial exploitation only for large and high sample volume installations.
A number of commercial companies offer complete systems for performing breath tests for the detection and study of the various gastro-enterologic conditions mentioned previously, using the isotopically labeled substances commercially available.
The Alimenterics Company of Morris Plains, N.J., markets the Pylori-Chek 13C-Urea breath test kit for use with its LARA(trademark) System, for detecting the presence of H. Pylori in the gastro-intestinal tract. The company is developing kits for the clinical use of the other breath tests mentioned above. Breath is collected in a uniquely designed breath collection device, that also serves to transport the sample to the LARA(trademark) System. This system, which stands for Laser Assisted Ratio Analyzer, is a sophisticated infra-red spectrometer designed to provide the sensitivity required to detect tiny percentage changes in the level of 13CO2 in the patient""s exhaled breath. Because of the complexity of the LARA(trademark) System, it is a large piece of equipment, weighing over 300 kg. and very costly. Consequently, this system too is only feasible for very large institutions and central laboratories, where the large number of tests performed can justify the cost.
Meretek Diagnostics Incorporated of Nashville, Tenn., has also developed such a 13C-Urea breath test diagnostic system, and use an isotope ratio mass spectrometer called the ABCA (Automated Breath 13C Analyzer) manufactured by Europa Scientific Limited, of Crewe, Cheshire, U.K. for analyzing the breath samples. In this system too, the analyzer unit is large, costly and sophisticated, and therefore is usually located remote from the collection point.
Wagner Analysen Technik GmbH of Worpswede, Germany, offers an infra-red non-dispersive spectrophotometer-based system called the IRIS(copyright)xe2x80x94Infra Red ISotope Analyser, which is based on the above-mentioned European Patent Application No. EP 0 584 897 A1. Though the main useage mode is by means of transport of the breath samples from the collection point to the analyzer in sample bags, this system, according to the manufacturer""s sales literature, also has a sample port whereby connection can be made directly to a breathing mask, an incubator, or a breathing machine. No details of such a connection tube accessory are however given in the technical manual accompanying the analyzer, nor does the manufacturer provide any programs with the system""s operational software to enable such an accessory to be used for performing on-line analyses. This analyzer has dimensions of 510xc3x97500xc3x97280 mm and weighs 12 kg., and in addition, a PC is required for control. Though smaller and less costly than those mentioned above, it is still too large and heavy to be described as a truly portable device. Furthermore, its reported cost of several tens of thousands of U.S. Dollars, though considerably less than that of the two above-mentioned commercial systems, still makes it unsuitable for point-of-care or physician""s office use.
In the preferred procedures described in all of the above mentioned prior art, the patient must wait typically 20-30 minutes before the active sample is collected, mainly because only one sample is taken beyond a background sample. This time is necessary to allow the level of isotopically labeled exhaled gas to reach a relatively high value, close to its end value, to enable the analyzer to measure the gas with a sufficient confidence level. However, such a single point determination potentially decreases the accuracy of the test, as well as increasing the risk of ambiguous results.
To the best of our knowledge, no breath test analyzer system has been described in the prior art which is sufficiently small, fast in producing reliable results, low in production cost, portable and sensitive, to enable it to be used as for executing tests in real time in the physician""s office or at another point of care.
The present invention seeks to provide an improved breath test analyzer which overcomes disadvantages and drawbacks of existing analyzers, which provides accurate results on-site in times of the order of minutes, and which is capable of implementation as a low cost, low volume and weight, portable instrument. The breath analyzer of the present invention is sufficiently sensitive to enable it to continuously collect and analyze multiple samples of the patient""s breath from the beginning of the test, and process the outputs in real time, such that a definitive result is obtained within a short period of time, such as of the order of a few minutes.
Such a breath test analyzer is suitable for the detection of various disorders or infections of the gastro-intestinal tract, or metabolic or organ malfunctions, and since it can provide results in real time without the need to send the sample away to a special testing center or central laboratory, can be used to provide diagnostic information to the patient in the context of a single visit to a physician""s office, or at any other point of care in a health care facility.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a breath test analyzer, including a very sensitive gas analyzer, capable of measuring the ratio of two chemically identical gases but with different molecular weights, resulting from the replacement of at least one of the atoms of the gas with the same atom but of different isotopic value. Since the isotopically labeled gas to be measured in the patient""s breath may be present only in very tiny quantities, and since, in general, it has an infra-red absorption spectrum very close to that of the non-isotopically labeled gas, the gas analyzer must be capable of very high selectivity and sensitivity, to detect and measure down to the order of a few parts per million of the host gas.
The breath test analyzer is also sufficiently small that it can easily be accomodated in the office of a physician, such as a gastro-enterologist, and its cost is also sufficiently low that its use in such an environment can be economically justified.
There are a number of different operational modes for each type of test for such a breath analyzer, the common denometer being that the analysis is performed in real time whilst the patient is continuing to provide breath for subsequent analyses. In the most common mode of operation, the breath test analyzer senses a patient""s exhaled breath before ingestion of an isotopically labeled substance, analyzes the patient""s exhaled breath for the percentage of the isotopically labeled gas in the total exhaled gas of that composition in order to obtain a baseline reading, performs at least one similar analysis after ingestion of an isotopically labeled substance, and provides an indication of a medical condition within a time period following the last sensing which is less than the difference in time between the first sensing of the patient""s exhaled breath and the second sensing. This delineates it from previous breath analyzers, which, because of the generally remote location of the analyzer from the point at which the samples are given, cannot provide this indication within such a time limit.
In an alternative mode of operation, the analyses are made successively at times after ingestion of an isotopically labeled substance, and before the end of production of the isotopically labeled by-products of the substance, and the analyzer performs comparisons of the change from sample to sample of the percentage of the isotopically labeled gas in the total exhaled gas of that composition, and thereby provides an indication of a medical condition as soon as the detected change in gas composition percentage permits it, and before the end of production of the isotopically labeled by-products of the substance.
There are also two modes of analyzing the breath samples. The analyser can either perform its analysis on individual exhaled breaths, or, as stated above, it can perform its analysis on multiple samples of the patient""s breath, continuously collected from the patient. The method of collection and subsequent analysis of multiple samples of the patient""s breath has been described in co-pending Israel Patent Application No. 121793, which is hereby incorporated by reference. That application describes an analyzer wherein the patient""s breaths are exhaled into a resevoir for collection, in this application called a breath collection chamber, and transferred from there by one of various methods to the sample measurement chamber. One of the advantages of the method described therein, is that the analyzer draws an averaged sample of breath for measurement, instead of individual breaths, thereby increasing accuracy. Another advantage is that it is possible, by suitable valving means, to collect only the plateau parts of multiple breaths for analysis.
In accordance with a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a breath test analyzer, which analyzes a first exhaled breath of a patient and a second exhaled breath of the patient for isotope labeled products generated in the patient""s body after ingestion by the patient of an isotope labeled substance, by performing a first analyzing of the patient""s first breath and a second analyzing of the patient""s second breath, at least the second breath being exhaled following patient""s ingesting the substance, the analyzer providing an indication of a medical condition within a time period following the exhalation of the second breath which is less than the difference in time between the exhalation of the first breath and the exhalation of the second breath.
There is further provided in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a breath test analyzer as described above and including a breath analysis chamber, a breath inlet conduit for conveying exhaled gas from a patient to the breath analysis chamber, and a gas analyzer operative to analyze gas in the breath analysis chamber and to conduct the first analyzing of gas exhaled by the patient""s first breath and the second analyzing of the patient""s second breath, at least the second breath being exhaled following ingestion by the patient of an isotope labeled substance.
Furthermore, for those preferred embodiments which analyze samples collected from exhaled breaths of a patient, instead of individual breaths, it is understood that the analyzer also incorporates a breath collection chamber, which may be a separate chamber, or part of the breath inlet conduit, or part of the breath analysis chamber. In the latter case, the analysis of the gas sample effectively takes place in the breath collection chamber.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a breath test analyzer as described above, and wherein the patient""s first breath is exhaled prior to ingestation of an isotopically labeled substance, and the patient""s second breath is exhaled following ingestation of the isotopically labeled substance.
In accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a breath test analyzer as described above, and wherein both of the patient""s first and second breaths are exhaled following patient""s ingestation of the isotopically labeled substance.
There is further provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a breath test analyzer which analyzes a patient""s breath for isotope labeled products generated in the patient""s body after ingestion by the patient of an isotope labeled substance, the analyzer providing an indication of a medical condition existent in the patient by analyzing at least two successive samples of the patient""s breath, wherein the at least two successive samples of the patient""s breath include at least one later sample exhaled following analysis of at least one earlier sample.
There is still further provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a breath test analyzer as described above and including a breath analysis chamber, a breath inlet conduit for conveying exhaled gas from a patient to the breath analysis chamber, and a gas analyzer operative to analyze gas in the breath analysis chamber and to conduct analyses of the at least two successive samples of the patient""s breath, wherein the at least two successive samples of the patient""s breath include at least one later sample exhaled following analysis of at least one earlier sample.
In accordance with still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a breath test analyzer which analyzes a patient""s exhaled breath before and after a product of an isotope labeled substance ingested by the patient could be detected in the patient""s breath, a first analyzing of the patient""s exhaled breath taking place prior to the product being detectable in the patient""s breath and a second analyzing of the patient""s exhaled breath taking place once the product could be detectable in the patient""s breath, the analyzer providing an indication of a medical condition within a time period following the exhalation of the second breath which is less than the difference in time between the exhalation of the first breath and the exhalation of the second breath.
There is further provided in accordance with other preferred embodiments of the present invention, a breath test analyzer which analyzes a first exhaled breath of a patient and a second exhaled breath of the patient for the products of an isotope labeled substance ingested by the patient while the patient is coupled to the device, or analyzes the above mentioned exhaled breath and provides an indication of a medical condition while the patient is coupled to the device, or is breathing into the device. The patient whose breath is being analyzed can be coupled to the device continuously from the analyzing of the first exhaled breath to the analyzing of the second exhaled breath.
There is still further provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a breath test analyzer as described above and including a breath analysis chamber, a breath inlet conduit for conveying exhaled gas from a patient to the breath analysis chamber, and a gas analyzer operative to analyze gas in the breath analysis chamber while the patient is coupled to the device.
There is even further provided in accordance with still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a breath test analyzer as described above and including a breath analysis chamber, a breath inlet conduit for conveying exhaled gas from a patient to the breath analysis chamber, and a gas analyzer operative to analyze gas in the breath analysis chamber and to provide an indication of a medical condition while the patient is coupled to the device.
There is also provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a breath test analyzer as described above and including a breath analysis chamber, a breath inlet conduit for conveying exhaled gas from a patient to the breath analysis chamber; and a gas analyzer operative to analyze gas in the breath analysis chamber and to provide an indication of a medical condition while the patient is breathing into the device.
In accordance with still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a breath test analyzer as described above and wherein the patient is coupled to a disposable breath input device.
In accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a medical sample analyzer which analyzes samples taken from a patient, and wherein either the taking or the analyzing of the samples is terminated automatically at a point in time determined by the results of the analyzing of the samples.
In accordance with even another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is further provided a breath test analyzer which analyzes samples of a patient""s breath for isotope labeled products generated in the patient""s body after ingestion by the patient of an isotope labeled substance, and wherein either the taking or the analyzing of the samples is terminated automatically at a point in time determined by the results of the analyzing of samples.
There is also provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a medical sample analyzer as described above, which analyzes samples taken from a patient and including a sample input port for receiving samples taken from the patient and an analyzing apparatus for analyzing the samples, and wherein the analyzing is terminated automatically at a point in time determined by the results of the analyzing of the samples.
There is further provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a breath test analyzer as described above and including a breath analysis chamber, a breath inlet conduit for conveying exhaled gas from a patient to the breath analysis chamber; and a gas analyzer operative to analyze gas in the breath analysis chamber and wherein the analyzing of samples from the patient is terminated automatically at a point in time determined by the results of the analyzing of the samples.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is further provided a breath test analyzer as described above, and wherein the gas analyzer includes a gas discharge tube gas analyzer, or an infra-red source which emits a discontinuous spectrum.
In accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a breath test analyzer as described above, and wherein the results of the analyzing of successive samples are fitted to a curve, and an indication of a medical condition in a patient is determined by inspecting the derivative of the curve.
In accordance with even another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is further provided a method of breath testing which analyzes a first exhaled breath of a patient and a second exhaled breath of the patient for isotope labeled products generated in the patient""s body after ingestion by the patient of an isotope labeled substance, and comprising the steps of performing a first analyzing of the patient""s first breath, subsequently performing a second analyzing of the patient""s second breath, at least the second breath being exhaled following the patient""s ingesting the substance, and providing an indication of a medical condition within a time period following exhalation of the second breath which is less than the difference in time between exhalation of the first breath and exhalation of the second breath.
There is further provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method of breath testing which analyzes a patient""s exhaled breath for the product of an isotope labeled substance ingested by the patient, and comprising the steps of performing a first analyzing of the patient""s exhaled breath prior to the product being detectable in the patient""s breath, performing a second analyzing of the patient""s exhaled breath once the product is detectable in the patient""s breath, and providing an indication of a medical condition within a time period following the exhalation of the second breath which is less than the difference in time between the exhalation of the first breath and the exhalation of the second breath.
Furthermore, whereas all of the above mentioned preferred embodiments have been described for breath analyzers which analyze a first exhaled breath of a patient and a second exhaled breath of the patient, it is understood that the operation of these preferred embodiments are equally valid for breath analyzers which analyze a first sample collected from at least a first exhaled breath of a patient, and a second sample collected from at least a second exhaled breath of a patient.